Charles Stanton-Jones (born June 10, 1988 in Washington, DC) works in digital media, print, drawing, photography, and sculpture. His early works were installations combined with performance and video. Stanton-Jones’s work centers on philosophical, historical or political themes, and employs the media best suited to the message and the environment.
Stanton-Jones has been referred to as a “method artist”, incorporating and developing his ideas by injecting concepts into the milieu of his everyday life in order to develop his art. This is similar to “method acting” (developed by Constantin Stanislavki and popularized by Lee Strasberg in the US) in which actors analyze the motives and emotions of the character they are portraying using emotions or sensations from their lives to identify with their character. It is only when the concept is fully a part of the artist, Stanton-Jones believes, that the artist can complete the work. This can be likened to gardening, as only when the gardener plants the seed is it able to fully grow into a flowering plant. In such a way, Stanton-Jones believes art is injected into his life and the work emerges from this growth, or even alchemical process, in a final set of artifacts.
The projects Stanton-Jones creates using his “method artistry” tend to be grand, perhaps even brash, and employ larger than life concepts, often requiring a wide variety of media. The media is dictated by the concept, and has included techniques from sculpture to video, and painting to performance art. His art work is destined to cross media boundaries.
Stanton-Jones’s developmental process is firmly rooted in concepts that demand intellectual dialogue with the viewer. He is influenced by the workand thought-provoking qualities of Joseph Beuys and the performance and visceral qualities of Matthew Barney, the lightheartedness of Andy Warhol, and the ponderous and obscure realms of the Neue Slowenische Kunst (NSK) (New Slovenian Art).
With a firm and developing belief that art should engage the audience, and sometimes even demand its interaction, Stanton-Jones believes that in many cases the audience completes the work. His intention is to create a palette of work that is thoughtful and intellectually gripping. His work approaches fanciful subjects somewhat more seriously than people often allow. His art is frequently perceived as satirical.
Stanton-Jones has been active in the arts community, participating in group shows throughout London, including guest participation in the Da! Collective, and the Null and Void Collective. He has had commissions for private works in Washington, D.C. and Seattle, Washington.
Stanton-Jones has a Foundation degree from Byam Shaw, and as of 2011, a BA from Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London.